A Blue Ghost
by Frostyfall
Summary: Kuroko Tetsuya, once an invisible basketball player, now dead. His ghost can only be seen and heard by compatible people, like Kagami, and slowly the Seirin team. Ghost!Kuroko
1. Meet the Dead Boy

DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING.

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"WUAHH! H-hey! Get lost! I was sitting here first!" Kagami said as he noticed the other boy sitting next to him. The boy looked around for anyone else that the red head could have been talking to.

After seeing no one, he pointed to himself with a questioning look. "Yes, you! Who else would I be talking to?!" The boy's eyes widened.

"…You can see me? But to be clear, I was here first." His voice was oddly monotone.

"Well, why wouldn't I be able to?" The boy looked away.

"It's just not that many people can." Kagami nodded, and as he wolfed down another burger, he tilted his head in a sense of confusion. The boy continued, "You see, I'm dead." Kagami paused mid bite, and slowly widened his eyes. His face began to pale. He swallowed the bite currently in his mouth, and spoke.

"S-so you're a g-ghost?!"

"Yes." Kagami put his burger down and focused fully on the boy.

"So, can I-?" He hesitantly reached his hand out, and pushed it through the boy to his backside. "HOLY SHIT! You ARE a ghost!" The boy has a disgusted look on his normally emotionless face. The ghost stood up and confronted Kagami in a very serious manner.

"Please never do that again. Ever. It was very rude of you."

"I-I'm very sorry Mr. Ghost Sir, please don't curse me!"

"I'm not able to "curse" anyone. By the way, it's Kuroko Tetsuya. Also, you're making a scene. Please lower your voice. No one can hear or see me, but they can hear and see you." Kagami hunched down in shame, and his face reddened. He snuck a look around Maji Burger and noticed all the eyes on him, which looked away when he made eye contact. It was beyond humiliating. Somehow, Kagami's ears turned even redder.

An employee approached the table, and asked Kagami to peacefully leave the restaurant. Kagami complied hauling the rest of his uneaten burgers out of the store in comically overfilled pockets.

He began walking down the street with over exaggerated steps and took out a burger to munch on. He looked back and noticed the ghost. Kagami took a large step forward, and look back again. The ghost moved forward.

"Hey!-" Kagami started.

"Volume, Kagami." Kagami scowled, and began whisper shouting.

"Fine! Are you just gonna follow me like a creepy stalker until I get home?!"

"I apologize, I did not realize my presence bothered you. You are just the only person that's actually talked back since my death. I'm sorry I'll leave." Kagami was speechless. He never realized how lonely that would be.

He sighed and turned around to face the ghost.

"Fine, you can follow me bu- Eh?! Where'd you go?!" Kagami looked around, but saw nothing. He shrugged and continued on his route home, albeit creeped out and jumping.

Meanwhile, Kuroko the ghost drifted off to his usual spot watching and talking to people who would never respond.

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.0.

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Ever since the encounter, Kagami had been having nightmares about ghosts. They plagued his thoughts in the dark, when an upcoming game wasn't at the front of his mind.

Sometimes on his way to school in the trains and subways, he would catch a flash of the light blue hair. But by the time by looked away, it was gone. One time he tried to keep his eyes trained on it, but he ended up drying out his eyes looking at a hat.

Life went on normally, but there was always a light blue at the edge of his peripheral vision. Sometimes, he saw Kuroko in the crowd of his games. Kuroko would wave sometimes.

This stale mate of silence lasted for about three weeks, before Kagami's suspension from Maji was terminated. He sat at the normal seat, hoping to find the ghost. And as he was, Kuroko was sitting there, staring at him.

"Ah! Jeez, you're one creepy fucker. So why have you been stalking me?! Not that I don't mind, but-"

"Pervert."

"Hey! It's not like that! I just realize how boring and lonely life would be if no one ever talked to you, so I'm okay with it."

"You're okay with being my entertainment source? I have plenty of entertainment, I watched other people's dramatic lives. "

"I mean, one you can actually talk to! I know I'd go crazy if I no one ever responded!"

"You can talk with me, but our conversations haven't been satisfying so far. I think it might be better for me to just avoid you from now on, so I won't have to suffer your boring conversations." Kuroko said with a straight face. Kagami blinked.

"Don't push it. I can't believe this. I'm too boring?! WHY YOU LITTLE-" Kuroko began stifling laughter. "That, that was a joke right?" Kuroko nodded. "Ugh, nevermind. I retract that offer."

"Too late, Kagami. The deal is made. You have given me permission to stalk you." Kagami paled at the full realization of what he'd just committed to.

"Wait! Just don't be creepy! Don't follow me into the bathroom, or into my house, okay?"

"..That's acceptable."

"In return, you have to help me with stuff!"

"Like what?"

"Like, um… answers on tests! And umm…"

"Basketball games?"

"What?! No way! What do you take me for? Some kind of cheat?"

"Considering you wanted to cheat on a test? Yes."

"That's not the same thing!"

"It is essentially." Kagami considered this.

"I guess so. Fine, just help me a bit on math tests."

"Unless you accept the same level of help from me on all levels, I will not help at all."

"…Fine. No help at all then. I will never cheat at basketball."

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.0.

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As their relationship progressed, Kagami's nightmares about ghosts became less scary, dreams even. They began to occur less frequently as well. Kuroko became a normal part of life.

A routine formed by the end of the week. Every morning once Kagami left the house he would be joined by Kuroko waiting outside his door, who would follow him all day. In public Kagami couldn't speak to Kuroko too much, just a few whispers when he thought no one was watching.

Kagami thought he was being discreet, but almost everyone heard or heard about him talking to someone not there. Rumors began to circulate the school. He was avoided by lots of people, not wanting to catch the crazies.

It began to affect his basketball life as well, even though they never spoke during practice.

His teammates heard the rumors as well, and began to avoid being around him, or passing the ball to him. Kuroko always cheered him up after words, but it began to affect him slightly.

After a few days of this treatment, Riko had had enough of it. She called a team meeting during lunch. As Kagami walked to the meeting, people made a path for him, whispering "There goes Crazy Kagami, hurry! You don't want to be crazy too".

Once the team had gathered, Riko addressed them.

"So, does anyone have any idea _exactly_ why this meeting was called?" The team looked between itself, each face covered in confusion. Hyuga rose his hand, unsure of himself.

"A team bonding session?" The tick mark on Riko's head grew in size.

"Somewhat. Can anyone tell me why our team work has plummeted recently?" The team looked between itself once more, this time looking for a victim to tell her the reason and suffer her wrath. " _Well_? I'm waiting." A first year stepped up and spoke.

"Well, it's just we don't want to catch the crazies from Kagami…" The tick mark grew.

"Crazies? Is that it? You've been screwing our team over by not cooperating because of rumors?!"

"…Well, it's not just rumors. He really _is_ crazy!" She snapped, and grew very scary.

"Listen, crazy or not, Kagami is a teammate just like all of you. And you **will** cooperate with your teammates, or you will **never** play in any games. **Am. I. Clear?** "

"Y-yes ma'am!" The first year backed off. Riko, and the team then turn their attention on Kagami, who was looking up angrily at Kuroko who had insulted him.

"Kagami! What do you have to say about this?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry Coach. I wasn't paying attention. What was the question?"

"Ugggh. Pay attention! Rumors about you are disrupting our team flow, and we can't have that especially with our up coming practice match with Kaijo so soon! So, care to dispel any rumors?"

"Rumors? Oh, you mean the ones about me being crazy!"

"Yes those rumors."

"I'm not. Simple as that." A first year spoke up.

"That's what you say, but then why are you always talking to nothing?!" He was silenced by Riko's paper fan.

"Don't speak out of turn! But, is that true Kagami?"

"Umm…" He looked to Kuroko for help. Kuroko shrugged, and said he didn't care if others knew about him. "Well, you see, I found a ghost." There were varied reactions.

"A GHOST?"

"WHAT?!"

"Yeah, _right_."

"I only I can see and talk to him right now. His name is Kuroko Tetsuya and-"

"Yep, _definitely_ crazy."

"Hey! I'm not crazy! Here, I can prove it! Kuroko might be a ghost, but he can still manipulate some things. Like… my phone!" He reached into his pocket and pulled out an iPhone. He put the app Notes on, and set it down on a table. The team leaned forward to see it.

For a minute, nothing happened and the team began to doubt the existence of this Kuroko. But then words began to form. By the end, the team was awed and the message read:

'Hello Seirin Basketball Team. I am Kuroko Tetsuya. It is a pleasure to finally meet all of you formally. Since the only ways I can talk to humans is to either go through electronics, which is always a bother, or appear in front of compatible humans, like Kagami, I go for the later. Maybe one day, if you are compatible you might see me. I always watch over this team, I like it. I'd like to help out with basketball, but please don't let me ruin the beautiful teamwork you all had.'

The room was silent as the team digested this information. A polite ghost, appearing to Kagami, possessing his phone, watching over and helping the team. It was creepy any way you looked at it. But the team got used to it little by little as Kuroko made his presence known by helping with pointers.

He would possess someone's phone, and speak to the team. By the time one week had passed of his reveal, the team was only slightly uncomfortable with his presence.

Turns out, when he was alive, he was a basketball player like them. He told them he played with some top notch people, but never said who exactly. Kuroko gave excellent tips. During practice, anything a particular person needed to work on, he would possess their phone, and type their flaws and a few solutions he came up with. Kuroko could type very fast, though most thought he wasn't typing, more like speaking and the text is his words.

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.0.

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The second person on the team he appeared to was Mitobe. Though Mitobe didn't say anything, the cat mouth did. Mitobe began to trust the ghost, and cat mouth told the team everything. And everyone began to trust him a little bit more.

Then the practice match came about. They lost, but not as bad as they would have without Kuroko's influence. Kuroko possessed Riko's phone and began to give advice. And Kuroko cooled Kagami down, saving him from more than a few fouls.

Kaijo was arrogant, and won. But Seirin was not too bitter, they learned more than they ever could have learned by winning.

They learned Kagami was more of a selfish ball hog than they realized. They learned Kuroko was great at giving basketball advice, and valuable. Also, Hyuga and a few more of the starters saw Kuroko for the first time, when he was outside the phone analyzing the game.

END OF CHAPTER ONE

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 **An:**

 **1) this will be a multichap!**

 **Thank you for reaidng and please review!**

 **~Frosty**


	2. Daily Occurances

Kuroko Tetsuya was just like any other ghost, and such all the same rules applied to him as well. When the body first dies, a ghost steps outside of the body completely in tack. However, the longer a ghost has been dead, the more a ghost will begin to dissolve starting with the point that caused the death.

Most ghosts will completely dissolve within a month of the time of death, however if the ghost has a will strong enough it can force itself to stay longer. Ghosts cannot age, and only are able to manipulate the living world slightly, though there are some loopholes. Such as appearing before the living by manipulating sound and light waves to show their self and let their self be heard by those allowing themselves to hear and see it. And manipulating modern technology to some extent.

Kuroko Tetsuya was a normal ghost, but as a human, he had unbelievable willpower that rarely wavered. As a human, he was special, someone to be noticed and never forgotten. Or at least, that's what Kuroko thought he would've turned out like if he had lived longer. Either way his willpower was still one of the strongest in a long while.

Kuroko had run into Kagami when he was around halfway through his required time as a spirit. Back then, Kuroko had been looking forward to finally dissolving and being rid of his memories, regrets, and consciousness. Being nothing in the void.

But meeting Kagami had given him a renewal on his sense of life, a fresh perspective. He stuck around Kagami, because he saw a light within him and took interest. Then, Kagami led Kuroko back to basketball, his old passion and deepest regret. At first Kuroko was reluctant to stay, but watched nonetheless and became entranced in Seirin's teamwork and friendliness.

It was as if Seirin was playing a different sport entirely compared to his old school of Teiko. Kuroko hated Teiko's basketball, but Seirin's was almost perfect. Tetsuya almost wished he was still alive to become apart of the team and help in their struggles, but he knew he had done what had to be.

Slowly, after the team's confrontation of Kagami, and introduction to Kuroko, he finally achieved his wish. He became apart of Seirin's life; cheering them on in practice and games; giving pointers and helping everyone improve; and being their little secret. No one outside of the Seirin basketball team knew of Kuroko the ghost. He was their secret and let the team bond closer than ever.

But it also made the team break up as well. The first few weeks of only being seen by a few were awkward. The more paranoid first years quit the team, worried they'd become crazy as well, and a few second years were tempted to as well, but they stayed and trusted their seniors.

Those that remained wanted to see and talk to their ghostly honorary team member. Over the course of the following two weeks, the stragglers joined the bandwagon each with their own hilarious reaction to the dead boy. He strengthened bonds and helped the team in more ways than one.

Often times the team would ask about the ghost's past, but Kuroko was always elusive in his response, never giving away anything they didn't already know. It wasn't that Kuroko didn't trust them, just that Kuroko was still coming to terms with what had happened and simply wasn't ready to talk about it. The team only ever asked about his life until one day Koganei finally asked.

Shinji, with Mitobe in tow, walked up to where Kuroko was floating, observing the practice with a critical eye.

"Hey Kuroko! I've got a question for you!" The ghost turned his attention to the cat face.

"What part of my life do you want to know about now?"

"W-w-what?! Why would I ever ask you about your life? I have never done that. Right guys?" He looked to his team for support, which was ignoring them and going on with practice.

"Don't delude yourself, Koganei."

"Okay, fine. You caught me! Me and Mitobe were curious on how you died. So! How'd your candle get quenched?" The rest of the team, paused in their actions. The gym was dead silent waiting for Kuroko's answer.

"...That was very rude." The team tensed, thinking he'd refuse an answer to them. "But I will overlook it." Most let out a sigh. "I, alongside with my teammates, no, ** _acquaintances_** at the time, wronged a dear old friend of mine. We wronged him so much, we drove him to insanity. Although, he wasn't too sane to begin with. My old friend wanted revenge in the most **permanent** way. I intercepted him and did what needed to be done. I died shortly after dealing with him." The team sapped up this information like a sponge, eyes glued onto Kuroko. Though, when Kuroko looked up, the team stumbled to reanimate and cover up their listening in. Kuroko smiled inwardly at their brief tsundere act of caring.

 _"_ _Ok~ay._ But what did you do?" Still Koganei persisted.

"What needed to be done. Shouldn't you two be _practicing instead of interrogating me_?" The conversation ended promptly as Riko's ears perked up and whipped them back into work. She growled at them, with a scary face as they did squats and passing. Kuroko sweat dropped, and commented,

"What a slave driver.." Riko, with her perceptive ears, turned around slowly and terrifyingly.

 ** _"_** ** _What was that Kuroko? Aren't you supposed to be doing work too?_** " Kuroko paled and turned back to examining the weakness of the team. "Hmph, that's what I thought." Riko backed off, and went to go yell at Kagami for whatever reason and look over the schedule

Kuroko was happy. This was the good life, indeed. Well, death, depending on how you look at it.

 **An: Yooooo. Sorry my peps. This chapter short af, but next one will be a bit longer and will have some more detail about games and incorporating the GOM into the story. Next chapter will be better I promise, I just had some inspiration to write, but I didn't have enough energy for a longer one so this is what you get. I am being so bad about keeping the time crap consistent, so sorry if there's some overlap and stuff. I'm not rlly keeping track rn. I'll edit it later. Well anyways you've got the details of the death. I'm looking forward to writing that out later. Also did you know that cat face's name was Koganei? I had to look that up.. maybe i need to reread/rewatch knb again, its been almost a year now. im proud of myself for remembering so much. well the next chapter should be out maybe mid to early december? idk. I post updates on my profile if u rlly wanna know.**

 **~Frosty**


	3. The Bread Trial

**DISCLAIMER: STILL DON'T OWN ANYTHING. AND CHAPTER BEGIN:**

After the practice match with Seirin, Kise excused himself to go out and buy a candy bar from the local grocery store. After leaving the shop, he sat down on a bus stop bench and looked up into the sky, lost in thought. He absently ate the bar. This kind of peace was nice. It wasn't often he got free time like this..

Midorima rounded the corner and caught sight of his former teammate. His gaze dropped, and a solemn mood surrounded him. He approached his teammate, stood behind him, and swiped the candy bar from his hands.

"You know, this isn't very good for your health or modeling career." Kise whipped around and tried taking it back.

"Hey! That's not yours! Give it back!" Midorima just held the candy bar high and shot it into the trash can, all the while staring into Kise's eyes. "Midorima~! You're so mean to me! That was a perfectly good candy bar, and you just wasted it!" Kise was crying and whining like a child.

"I see you still think of him?" Kise's attitude did a 180 as the somber topic was brought up.

"Well, yeah. Don't you?"

"...No." Midorima bristled and walked away. Kise sat back down, eyes shadowed with a weary smile.

 _"_ _Liar."_

.0.

Ever since the ass kicking at the practice match, Seirin had been driven to work harder than ever. With Kuroko's guidance, the team knew their weak spots and worked their asses off. Somehow, his snide remarks and placid attitude inspired the team and brought them closer together. Even Riko was impressed at how close the team had bonded over Kuroko. He was like a special secret or privilege only members of the team had.

Even though a few of the members had yet to see him, the numbers were quickly dwindling. Each new person who could see Kuroko reaction was gold and made the whole team laugh, as they clapped him on the back. The most dramatic reaction to finally seeing the floating blue eyed and haired boy was a faint. He resuscitated half an hour later, but upon waking up he stuck his hand through Kuroko, and fainted again after seeing the downright murderous look on the dead boy's face.

If asked, Seirin resolved never to tell anyone of Kuroko the ghost, and only told of the mysterious honorary member. No one had asked yet.

Soon after the practice match, the second years present a special sort of task for the first years. To get some special bread, that everyone was after. It was a daunting task, but it was the perfect chance for the first years to prove themselves! The first years huddled to form a plan.

"S-so how are we gonna do this? There's so many people already there.." The first years eyed the large crowd that was only getting bigger by the minute.

"Well we're not getting anything done by just standing here. Let's go." Kagami took off and started shoving into the crowd. A few of their classmates left, not wanting to catch his crazies like the rest of Seirin's basketball team apparently had, however most were too focused on the bread.

"W-wait! Kagami! *sigh* Well I guess he's right. Come on!" The first years began to plow into the crowd as well.

Kuroko began to follow Kagami into the crowd. Riko noticed and began scolding.

"Kuroko! What are you doing? This is a challenge for the first years only! Don't help them."

"Um, you seem to misunderstand. If I were still alive, I would be a first year this year. I don't understand why I don't get to accept his challenge as well." Riko was taken aback.

"W-well, if that's the case, I guess that's fine. But you could've told us you know!" Kuroko nodded and continued into the crowd. "Hmph! That Kuroko…" Riko shook her head, and observed the first years struggle. "Eh? What's he-?" All the other first years were trying to shove their way to the front of the line, but Kuroko stood at the back of the crowd, and closed his eyes. A slight draft began chilling the area. When Kuroko opened his eyes, all the basketball team's first years' phones began buzzing and ringing, creating a cacophony of sound. The crowd paused in it's shoving, the first years of the team continued on ward after Kuroko's insisting and reassurance. "EHHHHHH?" Riko and the rest of the second years stood astonished. The first years might actually pull through!

When the people of the crowd checked their phones, and found it was nothing. There was no reason for the phones to be ringing, yet ring they did. The more superstitious of the crowd began to leave, and the more determined just shoved the still ringing object into their pockets and continued onward.

The short pause of the crowd allowed several of the first years to gain much ground. Kagami retrieved his bread. The other first years were quick to follow, the last bread was given out to the person right after the last first year.

The second years stood shocked as one by one the first years came up with the bread. However the shock did not last long as Riko snatched a loaf, and inspected it. After confirming it, RIko nodded.

"Since you all passed, none of you will have to face the punishment. But since you all did so easy, maybe I should give out more challenges like this." The first years began to panic.

"W-what?! Nonono. It wasn't easy at all. It was all thanks to Kuroko!" The first years shifted the blame of their success onto Kuroko.

"Yeah, so? He's a first year too."

"What? You are?" Kuroko nodded. Kagami began to grumble about stupid secrets and not telling him. Riko shook her head, maybe these first years were something after all. Hyuga stepped in.

"We'll be trusting you with task like this more often, then." The team began to disperse, as lunch was nearing an end. Riko called out her final goodbye.

"Don't be late to practice. Or else I'll give you all twenty more laps!" The rest of the team shuddered at the thought and hurried to class, so they wouldn't be given detention and be late to practice.

.0.

Not a single person was late to practice that day, making Riko proud and disappointed in a way. She observed the team doing their warm ups, and wondered if they were ready for the Inter High.

"Once you're done with warm up, circle over here! I got some stuff to announce!" Riko walked over to the bleachers and sat down. Kuroko floated over.

"What is it that you wish to announce?" Riko eyed him.

"I'm only going to say it once, so you'll have to wait for the rest to come over." Kuroko shrugged, and waited with her. The team gathered and Riko began once the stragglers finally caught up.

"As some of you may know already, the Inter High is coming up! To get ready, I am going to make you all work your asses off. We've got a lot of weak spots right now, each Kuroko and I know all too well. And you are going to do your damnedest to conquer them. You are going to work twice, no, three times as hard as you've been working and then some! Am I clear?!" The team's response was in sync and powerful.

" **Yes, Coach!** " It made Riko smile.

"Good! Because we won't have a chance in hell against Shutoku unless we do! But that's only if we make it to the preliminaries! We've got to plow through the other opponents to even get there. We have a game against Shinkyo Academy very soon. They may not be a big name school, but we must still crush them with all our might!" Here Kuroko spoke up.

"Like Coach Riko said, they are not a big name school but like with any opponent underestimation is a fatal mistake." Riko nodded.

"Right. They're also in this to win. Shinkyo has even brought in a tall foreigner. He'll be our biggest threat. So! To prepare, you're going to work like you never have before! Kuroko and I have talked about you're biggest weak spots and have devised a training plan for each of you. Kuroko typed them up and I printed them off. I'm leaving the stack here, yours has your name on it. If you've got any problem with your regime, bring it up with me. Now get to it! Don't waste any time." Finished with her speech, Riko set down the pile and watched the players get into practice.

.0.

 **AN: Okay! Hey thank you all for following, favoriting and reviewing so quick! It means a lot. Special shout out to tiara calla for catching my mistake with Koganei's name. I fixed it, thanks so much! And for the rest of you all asking about Kuroko's death, you're close! but it's a bit more complicated than your guesses. I'm not gonna make it so easy to guess! Also with any questions I don't answer in the ANs, be aware that it will be addressed in the story a little later on, so just be a lil more patient. I'd hate to explain something, and have it ruin a surprise or something..**

 **Sorry ghost reader, I will not be doing explicit pairings, cuz I'm aro af. I personally hate romance and see most "romantic" things as gestures of great friendship and trust, and there might be a few of those in here so you can interpret those however you desire. Sorry if you wanted some KagaKuro.**

 **So this is my christmas present to you all! A new chapter! Yippie! I tried not to have any plot holes, but if you do notice some tell me and I'll fix it. Ik ik it's kinda short, but I wanted to split stuff up evenly. Next chapter I'll get down and dirty and address some actual basketball action and finally start to get the plot rolling. the next chapter will definitely be up sometime before february. Until then!**

 **~Frosty**


	4. The Final One to See

**Hey so its been a while my peeps. I'm getting pretty unmotivated to write this as I'm finally getting off my ass to do shit to look good on college resumes even though im not even in highschool yet ugh. I honestly haven't watched KnB in exactly a year now, but lucky for you all I'm still into the manga. Just a heads up for those following me, after I finish this story (AND I WILL) I'm going to start posting stories from other fandoms more important to me. Yes, I'll still put up the occasional lil one shot of Kuroko but not for a long while. I plan to finish this story definitely by 2017, how quick tho depends on my motivation. Now I've been putting this off for long enough, heres the nitty gritty shitty chapter of basketball that I promised. Though I didn't get too nitty gritty detail stuff. oh well. Hope you enjoy~!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke.**

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After Riko's rousing speech to the team and the players finished their practice for that day, the Seirin team fell back into its normal comforting routine with a strengthened, quiet resolve. No one spoke of it, but the team could sense the change in atmosphere of practices. Before the atmosphere was a lighthearted one with the occasional break to laugh, nothing was on the line then. Now, there was still laughter and puns, but no one dared to stop practicing because to wipe their eyes or quite their laughter. It was as if the team was before jumping and skipping up the piedmonts of a mountain, and now they reached a more inclined section where boulders rolled underneath their feet and the ones on solid ground grabbed the ones on the boulder off.

The Shinkyo Academy match snuck up on the team, no one had forgotten, per say, but everyone had been focused on improving themselves and their teammates.

While Seirin arrived at the Shinkyo Academy, Kuroko went ahead of them while they were unloading to scout out the other team's dynamics. Naturally, no one took note of his disappearance until afterward.

The foreigner was easy enough to spot; tall and African. He didn't seem to be quite integrated with the rest of the team though. It seemed as if the other players were confident because of him, and would rely heavily on the foreigner. The foreigner himself had lidded eyes and a rather arrogant expression. He had full confidence that he would win this match, and that just made it that much easier for Seirin to win. Kuroko nodded to himself, pleased with his assessment, and began to return to the team.

Kuroko floated over to the team bench and sat, waiting for the others to catch up. As Seirin piled into the gym, the foreigner noticed Kagami and walked over to intimidate him. Kagami being the dunce that he is, took no note of the tall foreigner making a B-line to him and flopped on the a spot on the bench next to Riko, who was having an intimate conversation with a ghost in that same spot.

Kuroko began to boil with anger, and Riko was shocked into silence as Kagami sat on his closest friend. Kagami only noticed that it was getting colder.

"Hmm..? Do you feel a draft too, Coach? Feels kinda nice…" Kagami relaxed a bit in the cool temperature. Kuroko realized he made Kagami comfortable, and changed the temperature once more. "Oh, now its getting hot- Hot! **HOT! AHHHHHH!** " Kagami jumped out of his seat and began running around trying to pat down the fire that felt like it was on his butt. The foreigner stopped his B-line to Kagami and stood shocked at the scene. The Seirin team shadowed their eyes, as Hyuga rounded up the seemingly crazy member. Hyuga then forced Kagami over to the other team and made him bow in apology.

Both teams stood shocked and appalled at the entire scene.

"So much for a respectable start to the season…"Riko mumbled, to the side Kuroko nodded in agreement. Then much louder she said," All right, enough is enough! Don't just leave your jaws open! You'll catch flies. Seirin, get warmed up! We've got a game to win!" Seirin snapped out of their stupor and began to work their well oiled machine.

After a few minutes, the game began. The starters were Kagami, Hyuga, Izuki, Mitobe and Koganei. Kuroko floated above the court analyzing, as usual. The tip off was between the foreigner and Kagami. The foreigner was taller, and fully expected to get the tip off with no trouble. Kagami surprised the entire court, and grabbed the ball just as the foreigner's fingertips touched the ball. Though it was a stretch, even for him. Kagami landed quickly and made an outlet to Izuki, already making a quick break, catching his defender off guard.

The defender caught up quickly, but not before passing it to Hyuga. Hyuga spun past his defender and shot a nice three pointer. The foreigner would have blocked the shot, and almost did, however Kagami matched his every move, as if knowing what he would do next, and kept him held up for the ten seconds of play.

When the whistle blew, and the points awarded, and the players walked back to their positions. Kuroko decided to give the foreigner a nickname, announcing out to all those that could hear him, the foreigner's nickname was now Papa instead of foreigner. Only one first year on the Seirin team seemed to be confused at why his teammates were now chuckling or why there seemed to be a floating blue bur above the court.

Papa began to think the entire team was crazy or telepathic, with their simultaneous chuckles. It was just damn creepy. Still no matter how fucking insane this team was, they still were better than he thought. He began to take this game more seriously.

By the second quarter, Kagami was beginning to get a good feel of his boundaries, and Papa was breathing heavily. Neither ace had scored a point yet, instead only keeping the other at bay. The stalemate allowed the other players on the court to shine, however, they knew the moment the stalemate broke, they'd have to deal with a real problem. For sometime, it seemed as if the stalemate would last for hours, but then the aces began to tire. Kagami rate of tiring was quite quick, but Papa's rate wasn't too far behind.

Seirin knew they didn't have long left before they would have to deal with Papa. Thus, they upped their effort on gaining a lead. They gained a substantial lead, because unlike Shinkyo Academy, not just their ace but all their players were spectacular.

By halftime, Papa had scored two half-assed dunks and Kagami was showing signs of serious fatigue, his head likely swimming.

During half time, the team was called together for a small meeting in the locker room while munching on lemons.

"Alright! Good job, boys! We've got an 18 point lead for now, but don't you dare get cocky and drop your guard! We've still got a whole half game left! Everyone stay warmed up, we'll be making some changes to the players on court." RIko said, then looked towards Kuroko to fill in the rest of the players on what they had decided together. He nodded and began once he had everyone's attention.

Though a single first year squinted at him and straining all his senses, Kuroko assumed that meant the first year could now see him as well, making that the last team member to do so. Kuroko took note but didn't say anything, as the first year seemed to be concentrating on him.

"Kagami," The mentioned owner of the name, looked up from his hunched over positions, "We're taking you out until you have more energy to play." This sparked a reaction from the boy trying to keep his head from spinning.

"What?! No way! I can keep on playing! I'm not tired enough to stop!"

"Yes, you are. **Don't** lie to your team! For now, you can barely keep standing, let alone play. Too much strain on your muscles can lead to serious injury. This is our ruling, and you **will** accept it." RIko said with a voice that allowed no argument.

"I… Fine." Kagami crossed his arms and backed down. Kuroko coughed, and gathered the attention again.

"The one who will sub out for you is Tsuchida. That is all." Riko nodded, and allowed the team to enjoy its few minutes left of half time. However she approached Furihata, the first year who was squinting the entire time.

"Hey, Furihata. Is something wrong with your vision? You've been squinting a lot during this game. Do you need glasses?" Furihata immediately stopped his squinting, dropped his eyes, and scratched his cheek at the sudden attention.

"Umm, well no, I don't think so. There's just been this blue fuzzy humanoid thing floating around, and I think I heard it earlier, but- I don't know. I think I'm going crazy." Riko's eyes widened, before rolling.

"You idiot!" She hit him over the head. "That's for making me worry!"

"Huh?" He asked, rubbing his head.

"That's Kuroko, you dunce!"

" **HUH?!** B-b-but, isn't Kuroko a black ghost blob like Boo but inversed?" (1)

" _Where_ did you _even_ get that idea from?! No!"

"Oh, I see then." He turned to where the blue blob floating near Kagami was, squinted, and turned back to Riko pointing at him. "So, that is Kuroko?" She nodded.

The ruckus their conversation had caused, gained the attention of a few others, they listened in. Hyuga approached Furihata, and place his hand on his shoulder.

"So you can finally see and hear that blue menace?" Furihata was sincerely confused. 'Menace?'

"Menace?"

"Oh yeah. He loves to harp on you for slacking off and the sarcasm never stops." Koganei chimed in.

"Don't forget that he just _loves~_ to search through your internet history." Izuki said, surprisingly without a pun.

"And don't forget that he spams your phone with something random whenever you ignore him." Hyuga added.

Soon the entire team was gathered around Furihata and Riko, bad mouthing Kuroko and telling their tales with him. Kuroko made comments here and there to justify his actions, but still was largely embarrassed with a few unsavory acts he had committed. Kagami couldn't stop laughing, or rather, wheezing. Kuroko, finally blushing, wanted a change of conversation.

"How did we get started talking about all my misdeeds again?"

"Well, Furihata here, can finally see and hear you, so we were just warning him about your horrible ways." All eyes turned to Furihata, who was staring at Kuroko with a horrified expression. Kuroko waved his hand in front of his eyes. Snapping out of his stupor, he asked slowly and deliberately,

" **What, in the hell, is wrong,** ** _with you?_** " This elicited a round of laughter. Riko checked her watch, and yelled over all.

" **HEY!** We need to get out on court! **NOW!** " She marched out of the room. The chuckles began to die down, and as the players left the room, they patted Furihata on the back. He was finally a fully fledged member of the team. Soon only him and Kuroko were left.

"So, I guess, it's nice to finally meet you, Kuroko." Having heard all those stories about him really sharpened the blue blob, it was still rather blurry, but he could make out all of the features.

"Same. I'm glad another person can finally see me. Now, you need to get out in gym. The game is going to start soon." His voice sounded muffled too, as if hearing it through a wall or two.

"Yes." They made their way out into the gym and the game resumed.

Papa seeing his momentary rival was off court, was encouraged and went on to score twenty more points before having to call in for a sub towards the end of the third quarter. Keeping up with Kagami earlier really tuckered him out. It was 65-59 with Shinkyo in the lead at the end of the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter with both aces out for the count, it was down to the regular players to finish each other off. Needless to say, the Seirin members were of a higher quality than the Shinkyo members, and scored eighteen quick points. The score was 65-77. The Shinkyo coach forced Papa back onto the court. Papa coughed out six more points before he was dead weight once more. The entire team was riding on him, but he was too tired to support them any longer. His jumps were weak, and it took him long just to cross the court. It was pitiful, but the coach forced him to stay on court, confident in his aced.

The game ended quickly. 73-85 with Seirin winning. But Seirin felt it was a hollow victory. Forcing their ace to play when he could not was just cruel. Riko later reported their coach to the Highschool Basketball Association of Japan, and he was quickly expelled from the league.

* * *

 _ **Furihata is referencing Boo the ghost from Mario. And he thought Kuroko was black because Kuro in kuroko means black.**_

 _ **AN: alright so some info on this AU. In the original work, Kagami could only match Papa towards the end of their match, however in this AU he could keep up with Papa from the start. This is because he had a specialized training menu from Kuroko, including more work with his jumping abilities and defense. Since there is one less character on the team to be trained everyone on Seirin will be slightly-ish more stronger and overall better at basketball since they are being given specific training menus to hone their specific abilities instead of a uniform thing (though they are still doing some of that for team building stuff). The changes that seirin will go through are: closer bonded (over the secret of kuroko), stronger, and more skilled. Also did I ever tell you all that Furihata was my favorite generic first year in Seirin?**_

 _ **Next chapter, I'll finally address some GoM stuff, and give a few more hints at what happened to Kuroko. Hmm, in the chapter after that I might actually tell the story of the death or I might leave that for later,, idk.**_

 _ **Thank you all so so so so so much for all of you support! I hope this chapter was up to your expectations!**_

 _ **-Frosty**_


	5. Vague Answers and Reassurance

After Seirin's win over Shinkyo and a few other schools, one would have thought that the team's ego might have inflated, and perhaps it did a smidgen, but Kuroko and Riko, aware of the dangers that arrogance breeds, kept it in check with savage burns, salty sass, and the occasional encouraging talk. But what really kept them striving to be the best was the ever looming threat of the Emperors. Though the first years hadn't really managed to understand why they were so troublesome about them until Riko took the team out to see a Shutoku game.

And boy did they stare unbelievingly as their green haired ace made three pointer after three pointer. As Seirin sat in their seats, Riko took note of all. She could really see what type of people the first years were and how they evaluated their skill level. Kagami seemed slightly miffed and in awe, but had a challenging glint in his eye that Riko knew meant nothing but trouble. The other first years were practically shaking in their shoes, gulping nervously and gaping in awe.

She then turned her attention to Kuroko; he was silently observing, and while that wasn't particularly unusual, it seemed he was straining to watch, as though physically painful. Riko supposed ghosts couldn't feel pain, but she often wondered about the wounds of his own heart from dying so early. Maybe if he had lived long enough, Kuroko might have played alongside Seirin instead of watching from above. She shook her somber thoughts off and scanned the others.

Much to her satisfaction, a good majority of the second years were intently tuned into the game, analyzing their tactics and players. Well, all except for Izuki, who was tuned in as well, but kept making horrible puns off the player's names. She huffed in fond exasperation and turned back to the game.

All in all, it had been a great decision to go see their game. It had been very informative and even motivational for the team to work harder. Kagami left his seat, more than ever determined to challenge the GoM. However before he let them all leave, Kuroko held a conversation with the team.

"...Well 153-21 is certainly typical of a team with a former Miracle." He muttered mostly to himself, "I hope this trip has been educational and motivational for all of you to work even harder at practice and home. We face Shutoku on top of Seiho _on the same day_ in the tournament _._ You have just witnessed Shutoku's strength first hand. Please use this challenge to inspire yourself to get stronger, more endurance, and more skill. Thank you for your time. Riko, do you have anything to add?"

"Yes, thank you. Don't do any stupid shit! Take care of yourselves, if not for yourself, then for your team. We will not be losing to them. Also, in other news, our next match is against Seiho." Pausing, she looked around to the sober faces of the seniors, and continued. "I know, I know. Last year they decimated us. But this yearwe will not accept defeat. Remember the game is soon, we'll talk more in depth about this in practice later. Any stupid questions to get out of the way before we leave?" Kagomi immediately launched a question in a careful tone.

"So this Seiho… how bad did we lose last year?"

"...150 to 40." Some seniors looked down, ashamed or flinching at the memory. Kagami sighed before continuing.

"Okay, we can probably beat that, probably. And what about Shutoku, down there, how did we do last time against them?"

"141 to 45."

"And now they have a Miracle on their team?"

"Yupp." A frantic first year spoke up,

"We are so screwed. I mean, even the seniors couldn't beat them last year, and _now they have a Miracle_? We can't b-" Kuroko powerfully interrupted, commanding silence and all ears to him.

" **We can. We will."** Kuroko had said his piece and was silent until he noticed everyone was waiting for something more. "Excuse me for interrupting, but I won't stand for you to discredit the team. We are better than last year, and yes, they may have received a major boost; but that doesn't mean we haven't improved as well. Our teamwork is undoubtedly stronger than theirs, and basketball is all about teamwork. We can beat any monster with teamwork. Not to mention, individually we are above average." Riko butted in,

"Yeah, so don't go doubting yourselves. Me and Kuroko might point out all your flaws but that's to make you flawless. Besides Kuroko is right. With the right strategy and seamless teamwork we can wreck any team." Hyuga took over,

"So any other questions?" After seeing that there was none, he dismissed the team. Everyone went home dwelling on their thoughts. Kagami however walked home with Kuroko, engaging in conversation.

.0.

"Did you actually mean all that?"

"Of course. We can definitely beat those monsters." Kagami peered at him.

"And why do you keep calling them monsters? I know they're pretty devastating on court, but it's mean to dehumanize them like that."

"...I know them. Don't be fooled, on or off the court they're monsters, trust me." Kagami decide to probe this,

"Care to explain?" Kuroko looked at him deadpan and said,

"No."

"What?! You can't just say something like that and not follow up! It's not fair! Boo! Bad show! I demand to know why-"

"Do you trust me?"

"Well, yeah."

"Then believe me."

"Okay okay. I do. But I'd still like an explanation."

"I suppose you would. Where to begin?"

"At the beginning?"

"No that'd take too long. I don't want to dwell on the subject. It brings me pain."

"...Keep it brief then."

"One could say they are the reason I died. But I think it was more indirect. When I was alive, we were closely affiliated. I knew them all personally, we were friends at some point. But near my death, I could barely call them acquaintances. They went out of their way to destroy teams and their wills to play basketball. For some, their will to live as well. I watched all of this as a bystander until they dragged me in. Then I saw it up close. What they did to people was disgusting, and those trash _don't even care_!" Kuroko was beginning to get red in the face, and raising his voice. Then he regained his composure, deadly quiet. "When they did that to my close childhood friend, I couldn't stop it. The one thing that kept us together through thick and thin, and they destroyed his love of basketball, him. And mine too. As far as I know, they don't even like basketball. They just like hurting people. If people like that aren't considered monsters, then I don't know what is." By then end of his rant, a few tears had escaped his ducts.

"...oh. I see." Kagami spoke with a hardened will and an insatiable fury, " **I won't lose to them. I'll stop them.** You can count on me, Kuroko."

"Thank you." For the rest of the path home, they walked in silence.

.0.

 **AN: Holy motherfucking shit. With mulitchapters its so hard getting just 1k out. I'm way better with one shots. But anyways. Haven't looked at anything knb related in almost 1 and a half years? Idk why i write all this knb stuff when i havent touched canon in so long. But here i am. Ok tbh i expected this chapter to be out like 5 months ago? Idk what happened since then,, i don't have any excuses at all. And lol did any of u notice how shitty that question part was of the chapter. Its bc i thought seiho had a gom and only just realized it now and it kinda influenced the rest so i just meh. Next chapter might be out in october maybe novemeber? idk im kinda a mess rn. But anyways onto my authorly duties- THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR REVIEWING I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH. ALSO FOR FAVORITING AND FOLLOWING YALL THE BEST. Im gonna make more of an effort to put out chapters quicker, but dont expect too much. PLEASE KEEP REVIEWING AND FAVORITING AND FOLLOWING ILY! So next chapter im gonna do the seiho game and maybe bring some miracles into the mix. Also if you see any plot holes or big mistakes just point it out and ill give u a shout out. Thanks for reading**

 **~Frosty**


	6. Hopelessly Pushing On

"I died when he did."

"Oh come on now, don't be so dramatic."

"It's almost been a year."

"Yeah, so move on already. Everyone else already has so why don't you?"

"Call me sentimental, but I have a conscience."

"You don't still blame yourself for it do you?"

"I blame us, our team, our school, our society; and as I happen to be apart of all of those groups, I guess you could say I do blame myself." There was a pause as Aomine buried the twinge of guilt that arose at the statement.

"It wasn't our fault." But then why did remorse coat his voice?

"Whatever you need to tell yourself to sleep at night."

"Fine. Wallow in your own misery for all I care! He's dead and there's nothing we can do about it!" He huffed and began to turn away. Kise could only watch Aomine open his mouth to say something, but then never did. With one look back, Aomine stuffed his hands in his pockets and quickly walked off into the night.

Kise slumped back on the the bench and allowed his eyes to drift from the eerily lit court in front of him and the stars in the sky. He wondered, if only Kuroko hadn't died, what would he be doing now? He liked to think that if there were a heaven, Kuroko would be there. Probably playing basketball with angels. He chuckled at the thought and allowed himself to drift off into oblivion.

.0.

Sometimes during the school day trailing behind teammates, Kuroko got bored like most students. Unlike most students, he could leave whenever he wanted. So, he wandered around, catching up with his favorite humans with interesting lives. Usually nothing too big happened; the other day one adopted a stray cat, and got a promotion at work much to the jealousy of her peers.

At around lunch, Kuroko wandered into the city looking for some entertainment. What caught his eye was something he both never wanted to see and something he relished to see.

On the front cover of a magazine fluttering on the concrete, there was a small circle with Kise's face. The words around it read: _'KISE RYOUTA: DEPRESSED?'_. Not that Kuroko was happy to see anyone depressed, but it brought a small sort of sick satisfaction that his death caused those monsters some guilt. The article further showed pictures of him sleeping on benches at night in front of basketball courts.

Kuroko filed the information away and went on his merry way. Maybe they could be changed after seeing the error of their ways?

.0.

The Seiho game was upon them. Their defense was crazy good and they were incorporating martial arts into their style. Seirin did not prepare for this, but all things given they were coping quite well. To start off their problems, Kuroko didn't show up until the beginning of the second half. That alone caused enough unrest and mutterings of a bad omen. Then, while Kuroko was gone, Kagami had gone off and gotten himself two fouls and was about to get another one judging the look on his face. They were on the losing side by almost twenty points and the exhaustion was starting to show.

Kuroko really regrets trying to hunt down Kise. But no time to regret the past, he needed a good plan now. He didn't know the other team well, but it seemed they had good defense and weren't sloppy. He started to go through all the scenarios in his head, how in the everliving fuck would they beat this team? In every way, they were underdogs in this situation. Their best players were tiring quickly and they had less players. Even if they did somehow win, they would still have Shutoku to play against later.

"Anno, excuse me everybody. I have a plan."

"Well, lets hear it."

"We put in Furihata, Fukuda, Tsuchida, Koganei and Kawahara for the third quarter. Then for the final quarter we add in the guys from the first half as they feel most recovered."

"Not that we don't trust you Kuroko, but that is a terrible plan! We're already behind, this will just make the gap bigger!" There were mutterings of agreement. Kuroko agreed as well, he never said it was fool-proof.

"Ok, so the guys from the first half are pretty tired and are getting sloppy. What if we took out them one by one for short periods of time, and during that time the sub would go all out until the player recovered?"

"Still doesn't sound doable." Kuroko rethought his plan again.

"What if I possess you?" The team looked taken aback.

"Can you even do that?" Kagami's face was priceless.

"Wanna try?" Riko took the silence of no volunteers to talk.

"Ok that's enough. Kuroko you had some good ideas, but we're going to switch up our offense a little. And we're going to go with Kuroko's second plan, because we do have another game later with a tougher opponent. Kagami you're on the bench first. Tsuchida, you're up."

The game resumed and the clock began anew.

Watching his teammates fight against fatigue and the offense of the other team, Kuroko hated this feeling of helplessness. If only he had never died, he could help out immensely. Even with all their plots, Kuroko still couldn't see how Seirin would win this game. They weren't making any progress, but to be fair, they weren't losing any either. Kuroko tried his best to help his teammates on the court but his shouts were only distracting. So he sat back down and let the chaos unfold.

Nearing the fourth quarter, the gap was 15 points and they had switched out most everyone. Kuroko was at the end of his wits. Maybe the possession could work…? He managed to mess with those phones after all, and human neurons do use electricity to communicate. The most ghosts could do was manipulate things, maybe he could manipulate the neurons in his teammates' heads to work faster? Or maybe to give some more adrenaline? Or maybe even put his own thoughts in their heads?

Kuroko shook his head of that idea. There was too much risk of brain damage, especially since he was not experienced.

Still, maybe the thoughts idea could work, just not as neuron manipulation. Before Kuroko always floated above the court and called out to his teammates, distracting them, but if he floated on the court next to them and whispered what to do they might listen.

And it did work. They were severely creeped out but it did work. Moves that Kuroko predicted were avoided and with one minute left they managed to get the gap down to 5 points. It would be difficult but not undoable.

.0.

It was a hollow victory, but they won. Barely. With two seconds on the clock, and two points behind, a buzzer beater three pointer by Hyuga was the only thing that saved them from going home. Exhausted, they cheered. But there was still Shutoku game bearing over them. Everyone wanted to collapse, but that was just the semifinals. The will to win on both sides would only grow with each game.

.0.

 **An: Hey hey hey its the lazy ass author! Anyways hope you enjoyed, as always please review, favorite and follow. If you liked this feel free to check out my other Kuroko stories. And thanks to everyone that has reviewed and favorited and followed! We're almost at 100 follows! (99 -_- rn)**

 **Ya kno, I was really considering just dropping this story but like? What the hell, its summer I've got nothing better to do. I kinda haven't touched cannon in well over two years but who needs that for a fanfic amiright. So uh, Kise prbbly seems really ooc but like idk I like to portray him dealing with guilt and remorse in his own way. Plus I fuckin love writing angst. SO, I just realized I skipped over a shit ton of games but like? Its too late now. Just gotta live with it. So, did you know that seirin has like nine people without kuroko,,, its so small team.**

 **Anyways next chapter should be out before 2018? But like,, you should know better than listen to my hollow promises by now.**

 **-Frosty**


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